Day: June 16, 2017

For the above average player, this isn’t something worth celebrating, to be honest. Though, I thought this would be a good kick-starter to writing this summer for the NOHK Blogs. This little video I made should speak for itself. Expect more videos from me in the future as I try to improve my video editing, which may prove useful for me in the near future!

Requiem asked for a play-by-play, which I originally planned in the video, but I thought it sucked, so I’ll try to write it instead. This is meant to be read while watching the video. Weird. XD

Main Mulligan: Grab a 2-drop, a 3-drop, and a 4-drop, but priorities on the earlier ones. The more early game, the better. Super general. XD

Game 1: vsBloodcraft

Turn 2 (going second): Opponent plays nothing.

I play Sektor.

Turn 3: Opponent plays Khaiza.

I playAttendant of Nightand go face.

Myreasoning: I played Sektor first, so I have the tempo (of being able to attack first), which forces my opponent to trade. Since they are of equal stat values, whoever does the trading doesn’t matter to me too much. More especially since I go second, having this opportunity lets me lead the damage race. In general, securing tempo should always be the key.

I attack with the Attendant of Night (-1), and I sacrifice it for the Dolorblade Warrior to gain +2/+2, summoning a Lich. I evolve the Lich and trade with the Dark Airjammer, leaving a 6/7 and a 6/3 on the board.

Reasoning: Pretty obvious, but one must remember to spread your buffs.

The Balortrade was poorly executed. Poor Gobu died for no reason.

The play sequence at Turn 8, thinking about it, was, to an extent, bad. I could have, instead:

Played Ceridwenand evolved, bringing Balor back, and played Zombie Buccaneer (Necromancy-enabled). Trade the Ceridwen into the Matriarch and still trading Thane into the Carrot (to not enable Vengeance). This would have left a 4/1, a 3/6, and a 2/2 that can re-summon, alongside 7 Shadows, which are more than enough to enable Andras next turn.

BTW WORST STOLEN LIFEPLAY EVER NEXT TURN.

Game 2: vs Shadowcraft

Turn 5(going first): I play Orthrus. Her Fanfare hits Malicious Ghost, making it targetable for a Necromancy-disabled Ghostly Grasp. +2/+0 to Attendant of Night. I evolve Attendant of Night and go face with it and Unica.

Reasoning: I have the tempo. I should aim to finish this match early. Killing the Attendant of Night which is now a 5/3 still leaves behind a big 4/4 to deal with. It grabbing removal is still a plus for me.

And next turn, the beautiful de-synergy of Test of Strength and Attendant of Night. Easy win.

Game 3: vs Swordcraft

Turn 1 (going second): Opponent plays Quickblader.

I play Ghostly Grasp to kill the Quickblader.

Reasoning: Tempo and playing on-curve. This Quickblader could have easily been stacks of damage that could have killed me turns earlier. At that point, I would have not made it to 8 Shadows to kill a bigger follower than this one pestering me.

One could say that evolving the Goblin Zombie could have brought back my tempo, but I had the same reasoning as to why I didn’t evolve my Spartoi Sergeant to kill Hamsa on Turn 4. Because it wasn’t necessary to waste the Evolve. The Jolly Rogers was a big tempo hit when it gained Rush. -_-

Test of Strength + Prince Catacomb combo Turn 7. :bd It was the best play with that hand, and going face was because I needed to chase the face race. XD

BTW WORST LUMINOUS MAGE PLAY EVER TURN 9. THAT WAS SO BAD, IT TOOK UP A FREE CYCLONE BLADE FOR FREE.

FOLLOWING UP WITH WORST NON-EVOLVE PLAY EVER, KILLING HIM IN THE END.

Game 4: vs Havencraft

The non-evolve here at Turn 5 was originally a mistake in counting the board. I thought here that Aria wouldn’t summon the Holyflame Tiger. It ended up as an okay decision. Oh, and the Dolorblade sacrifice choice is because of the value of followers with additional Last Words = more things needed to trade into.

The face attack of the Dolorblade was punishment for a bad trade. Didn’t care as much if it got banished. And a bad Surefire Bullet gave me the win by Turn 8.

Game 5: vs Shadowcraft

Side note: I almost cried when I saw his Turn 2 Spartoi Sergeant after I passed. It was a huge tempo loss, and it was a massive taunt to me when I drew Spartoi Sergeant the turn after. -_-

What might look weird to some people is my Catacomb trades into the Lurching Corpse. This allowed the Last Words to work to the least value which is killing a 1/1, avoiding a potential tempo swing if he had a way to sac it and the Last Words RNG hitting my turn drop (Balor).

One thing I did NOT see while playing against the board at Turn 9 was the Dolorblade to sacrifice my Balor, which would have cleared his board. That could have put me up way ahead! Instead, I had to pray that he did not have 1 damage (ForsenODO), so I eventually stole a win. 😛

Until then, as always, thanks for the support for us here at the NOHK Blogs! See ya’! XD